Today (6 June 2018), Mayor James Palmer and representatives of Heathrow Airport, will be hosted by Opportunity Peterborough at the Roxhill Peterborough Gateway site

The Peterborough site is one of two from the East of England in the running to help deliver expansion

Heathrow expansion is set to create up to 12,900 new jobs and generate up to £15 billion of economic benefits across the East of England

On Friday (6 July), Emma Gilthorpe, Executive Director of Expansion at Heathrow will be joined by Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, James Palmer, as she visits the Roxhill Scheme at Gateway Peterborough. The site is one of the two longlisted sites in the East of England. The visit is part of a nationwide tour of 65 sites still in the running to be offsite construction centres for Heathrow expansion.

Four sites across the UK will eventually be selected as Heathrow logistics hubs. The sites will be used to pre-assemble components of an expanded Heathrow before transporting them in consolidated loads to the airport. Logistics Hubs are essential in ensuring Heathrow expansion delivers for the whole country by spreading jobs, boosting productivity and modernising the construction industry outside of London and the South East.

This will be the first time representatives from the UK’s only hub airport have returned to East Anglia since an overwhelming majority of MPs speaking on behalf of constituencies across the UK, aligned to different parties voted to support expansion. These sites are bidding to potentially become off-site construction centres, giving the East of England the opportunity to help deliver Britain’s new runway.

In March, Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye was joined by Brandon Lewis MP for Great Yarmouth for visited Peel Ports Great Yarmouth. During the visits, the prospective bidders have the opportunity to showcase the unique strengths of their sites.

Heathrow expansion is set to create up to 12,900 new jobs and deliver up to £15 billion worth of economic growth for the East of England. In addition to the jobs boost from the potential logistics hub, Crossrail services are set to reduce journey times from Shenfield to Heathrow.

Last week’s parliamentary vote on the Airports National Policy Statement has cleared the way for Heathrow expansion to become Government policy, marking the end of the debate on the new runway and granting permission for the project’s delivery. These continued site visits are just one of the ways that Heathrow is working to kick start the delivery of one of the UK’s largest infrastructure projects.

Emma Gilthorpe, Heathrow’s Executive Director of Expansion, said:

“We’re thrilled to be back in the East of England following the overwhelming backing Parliament gave Heathrow expansion last week. It is brilliant to see, first-hand, the potential role the region could play in delivering Britain’s new runway.

“These hubs will ensure an expanded Heathrow delivers for all of Britain, transforming construction across the UK and creating a skills legacy for future generations. When chosen, the final four sites will kick start the job creation and economic benefits that expansion will bring. We are looking forward to meeting the team at Opportunity Peterborough and seeing what the site in Peterborough has to offer.”

James Palmer, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said:

“Heathrow expansion is an opportunity to boost productivity and equip British workers with new skills. The billions of pounds of private investment to fund expansion will deliver massive benefits all over the UK before the new runway is even operational. I am delighted that Heathrow has longlisted a site in Peterborough and we’re keen to demonstrate why our area with its thriving supply chain should play a part in the construction of one of the country’s most crucial infrastructure projects.”

Chief Executive of Opportunity Peterborough, Steve Bowyer, said:

“We’re delighted to be hosting the team from Heathrow today to showcase why Peterborough would make the perfect location for a logistics hub. As a forward-thinking, future city, Peterborough has excellent transport links, gigabit speed internet connectivity and a host of successful world-class businesses operating across all sectors – particularly manufacturing and engineering. Add to that our fantastic talent pool of skilled workers and our ever growing University offer, and the city’s case for being a logistics hub location is very compelling indeed.

“Peterborough has a strong track-record of securing new investment; in fact just this week the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has confirmed the city is its preferred location for its new head office. Securing a Heathrow logistics hub would be a huge boost to the local economy and testament to the city’s longstanding reputation as thriving business destination.”

Sites in the East of England longlisted for Heathrow’s Logistics Hubs: